Where I Belong
by HazelEyes12
Summary: Tony Stark had never been a family person. But past events make Tony change drastically and he starts to view life in a totally different way. Now Tony fights to regain the love of his family.
1. Chapter One

Tony Stark had never been a family person. He didn't do the whole family birthdays, bbq's, or pictures, in fact he had hated it. It had been ten years since Tony had last seen or spoken to any of his family members; theyhad been the least of his worries. After his parents had died he thought all they were after was his money, so he pushed them away. Though after his almost fatal encounter with the Ten Rings, he had changed a lot, and had realized the errors of his ways. He realized that all his family wanted was to care for him and love him after his parents' death, but he had been too proud and blind to see that. It had been the first time he had thought of his family in a decade. Being captured by those terrorists had also made Tony realize what kind of destruction his weapons had been creating.

Not only was the anxiousness to get reunited with his family plaguing his mind but as of two months now Tony had realized the palladium in his arc reactor had been poisoning him progressively over the year. Pepper and Rhodey of course did not know about this, no one did, unless you count Jarvis, but he would never tell. Now of course he had Pepper and Rhodey that loved him, but that would never compensate the love of a family. Tony had never felt more alone than now, he was afraid of dying before settling things with his family and making up for all the wrong he had done. He had to develop a new component to fill in for the palladium or it would be the end of Tony Stark. And at this moment, that was all he longed for. He could still remember the horrible words he had spoken to them the last day he saw them. It hurt him to think that he had been capable of saying those things; he would have never done so now, then again he was a different person now. His family had tried and tried to get a hold of him, but he refused anything that had to do with them. They didn't give up for a year, until they had realized he was a lost cause and would never speak to them again. He remembered the look on his aunt's face, the hurt etched on her face in result of his words. She knew those words had not been directed to her, for he had loved his aunt Debra so much, but the thought of her nephew holding such grudge and thoughts about their family, killed her.

"Tony, you need to get ready for your meeting, it's in an hour and a half." Pepper said, awakening him from his thoughts.

"Cancel; I'm not feeling up to it today." He murmured with his face buried in his hands. Today was not going to be a good day, he could feel it. With his head clustered with all these negative thoughts, the last thing he wanted to do was sit in a room with a of bunch military enforcements trying to convince him to start building weapons again.

"You've canceled twice already, they're getting restless." She answered.

He sighed and walked upstairs to get ready. Tony was desperate; all he had on his mind was his family. He wanted to apologize to them and rebuild a relationship with his family. He found himself trying to remember all the children's names, they were all so young when he had left; he doubted they remembered him.

"I need you to look up Debra Stark. Find the address of her home." Tony had ordered Pepper on their way to Stark Industries. Pepper had been very confused of Tony's request. His sudden desirability to seek his family had stunned her. Tony had never mentioned his family to her over the past ten years she had been working for him, until now. Though she did remember on account of Tony, throwing away a lot of mail they had sent.

Sitting in the room hearing grown men bickering with each other, put Tony in the worst of moods. He was wasting his time being there, he would never go back to building weapons. He had been so disgusted in himself when he realized that his weapons had been the cause of people's deaths and catastrophes. The guilt he had gone through had almost killed him. Tony had vowed that with his suite he would help the vision of mankind and he would help protect them. He wasn't going to break his promise.

"Look, I've made up my mind! My company will not go back to making war craft engineering and that's final. Innocent people are losing their lives because of this!" he said with force and stood up from his seat. He walked to the door ready to leave, he refused to take another second of this, his mind was made up, and his answer was final. He would not use his intelligence for the wrong of mankind but for the good.

"What about terrorists, how are we going to keep them from attacking and defeating us? There is only one way, and that is killing them!" exclaimed one of the Army's Coronels.

"A human being, does not deserve to die from another's hand or creation, we do not get to choose who lives or not, even if the person is worst in the world." Tony said quietly and calmly, which had frightened Pepper. She had learned over the years that when Mr. Stark was yelling, he was just angry, but when he was quiet and calm, he was furious and tended to act irrationally. Without saying anything else Tony walked out of the meeting with Pepper following' quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

After a restless night of sleep Tony awoke to a rude awakening the next day; Senator Stern was demanding that he turn in his suits and was calling a hearing.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked indignantly after hearing the news.

"He feels that such power could only deal to more havoc." Pepper explained.

"That's complete crap! Pepper, I'm trying to make this world a better place!"

"I know, but he doesn't think so, he thinks it's too much of a risk." She said calmly while Tony only got angrier.

"I can't believe this, this is absolutely ridiculous!"

"The hearing is in a week. Make sure you've got everything prepared." She said proceeding out the glass doors.

He sighed, "It seems everything just keeps on getting worse and worse."

Later today Tony's mood had worsened and his desperation had increased within the couple of hours.

"Jarvis, call Ms. Potts down here."

"She is already on her way down, Sir." Jarvis responded.

"Tony, I've got the information you wanted." Pepper said as she entered.

He pushed away from his working desk and looked at her, "Good."

"She's currently residing in, Lincoln Blvd 1872 Santa Monica, CA, 90403." She said handing him the paper.

"Perfect." he said pushing himself off his chair walking to the stairs.

"But, Tony?" Pepper called, "What about the meeting?"

"Don't wait up!" he called.

His heart pounded as he grabbed his keys. Walking outside to his car he thought about all the possibilities of what would happen when his aunt opened the door and saw him. Would she slam the door, would she tell him to leave, would she shun him away? All these thoughts ran through his head. Tony Stark had never feared anything, well except when he was captured, but he had always been brave and hopeful. Right now he wasn't very confident or brave, he was scared. Tony Stark was scared, scared about his aunt rejecting him.

Tony feared that he looked and sounded like a, well, pansy for lack of better words. Could you blame him? If he didn't find a solution for the palladium, he didn't want to leave without having made peace with his family. He knew he shouldn't be ashamed to tell Pepper and Rhodey, but one bad trait Tony had was that he was proud. He wanted everyone to think he was a tough indestructible guy. For crying out loud he was Iron Man, he couldn't let people think he was a big softy. He sighed, at the same he knew it was nothing to be ashamed of, but he was too hard headed.

Once he had arrived in Santa Monica his nerves intensified, he couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt this way. He took deep breathes but it didn't help, he wouldn't calm down until he had the security that his aunt wouldn't kick him out. He pulled up and stayed in the car playing over the scenes of what could happen. He banged his head against the head rest, thinking how much of a jerk he had been to his family. He felt like he was going to be sick, his feelings had overwhelmed him. He thought about just leaving and not doing this. What was he thinking, he thought, she would never forgive him, never, he was just wasting his time

He hurriedly got out of his car before he could regret his decision. He marched across the street toward the house. He was in the middle in the street when he let out a frustrated groan and pulled his hair walking back to his car.

"She's not going to let me in, I should just leave." He spoke to himself, "No, no, I can't think like this!" he screamed at himself.

To an outsider Tony probably looked like a crazy person, walking toward the house then walking back to his car not being able to decide. He didn't care about what people thought at the moment, he was distressed and he needed to get things straight. Finally he walked to the house, facing his fears and maybe deception. The only thing he could do was hope that his aunt didn't push him way, even if she had every right to do so.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

Tony walked towards the house, his heart beating faster than it ever had. He knew how things could turn out, but he was willing to take the chance. At least he would have the satisfaction that he had tried even if she rejected him. But what was he thinking he thought to himself, his aunt wouldn't ever do that, he tried to reassure himself. His aunt had been the only one that had really understood him and had always been there for him. Finally standing in front of the door Tony forced his shaking hand to knock. Waiting felt like an eternity, though in reality it had only been a matter of seconds.

Catching sight of Tony, his aunt froze and looked at him incredulously. She couldn't believe her nephew, who had been like a son to her, was standing in her door way. Debra Stark had always had hope that one day Tony would come to his senses and would reunite with the family, and there he was standing on her door step. The hope she held all those years had paid off and had not let her down.

"Tony!" she exclaimed and rushed to hug him.

He chuckled and hugged his aunt back and sighed in relief.

"Come in." she said leading him inside.

"Tell me," she started, "how are you?" she asked serving him a glass of lemonade.

She was so happy to see his nephew she was shaking; she didn't care about the reason he was there, just as long as he was.

Tony knew she wanted to know how he had been over the years since he had left, but knew she was mostly referring to his kidnapping.

"I've been alright, but I've come to talk to you about something." He said nervously.

"I have an idea of what it might be." She said giving him a pointed look while placing his drink in front of him.

"I was a real jerk. I said some things I shouldn't have said, and I'm sorry. I regret it and take it back completely and I wish I wouldn't have ever done that." he apologized.

"Oh, I know you didn't mean them." She said tearing up, "but you really hurt us all."

"I never meant any of those things towards you, but I know what I did was wrong and I don't know what I was thinking when I said that. I was a dumb immature kid with a really bad attitude," he sighed, "but after all that's happened I've realized all the bad things that I've done wrong."

"I forgive you, but you do realize I'm not the only one you need to apologize to, right?"

"Of course, but I wanted to come to you first."

"It's just unfortunate that you realized it so late," she said, "but it's okay, you did realize it and that's what matters." she said happily and pinched his cheek. It was something she had always done when he was child; he never seemed to mind, since his mother had always done the same.

Tony's mother and aunt had been like sisters, they had been the best of friends. That's how Tony's mom, Maria, met Tony's dad, Howard. One day Debra had come home from school with her friend Maria, which was the day the two met, the day that had changed their lives forever.

That night when Tony got home he was both mentally and physically exhausted from the emotions he had gone through the past year. Since he had spoken to his aunt, he felt as though all the pressure had been lifted off him. Well not exactly all, but a great majority. He still had to face the rest of the family, and that wasn't going to be easy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

Pepper did not understand why her boss had been in a foul mood as of late, but had figured it out the day after he had gone to see his aunt. That morning Tony had been in one of the best moods he had ever in the ten years she had been working with him. She had realized Tony Stark had been missing his family, that's why he had asked for his aunts' address. After seeing his aunt his mood had changed drastically, he would sing, he would whistle, and he would even dance sometimes, but of course he didn't know that Pepper knew of this. The Great Tony Stark would never be caught doing any of those things. She had never seen him so happy.

Despite Tony not telling Pepper and Rhodey what was going on, they had noticed something was amiss, especially Pepper. Pepper had been very glad that Tony was now happy; it had hurt her to see him so depressed, so mad, and so anxious. Seeing Tony had hurt her greatly, knowing she couldn't do anything to help him with whatever he was going through because he wouldn't say, made her feel useless.

Suddenly the phone rang, breaking her thoughts.

"Good afternoon, Stark Mansion." Pepper answered.

"Good afternoon, this is Debra Stark; I'm trying to locate Tony."

"Of course, one moment please."

Pepper hurriedly walked down to the basement where Tony worked, she knew that this would put Tony in an even better mood. She punched in the code and the glass doors slid open, she turned down the loud music and wasn't surprised when Tony reprimanded her to turn it back up.

"Please, don't turn down my music." He called.

"Tony. Your aunt is on the phone." She said holding the phone out for him.

He immediately stopped what he was doing and walked over to the phone. Pepper walked back upstairs leaving him to his privacy.

"Hello Aunt Debra." He smiled.

"Tony, how are you? I'm calling to invite you to a barbeque. We are celebrating Easter at my house."

At that moment Tony had turned nauseous and forced himself to speak.

"Oh great, when is it?" he tried to sound normal.

"It's this Sunday, starts at 2. Do you think you will make it?" he could hear the hope in his aunt's voice.

Of course he wanted to go, he wanted to reconcile with his family, but right now hiding forever sounded about perfect for him. He shook his head and composed himself.

"Of course I'll go!" he exclaimed, "I can't wait."

"Listen, I'll let them know you are going to show up, just so they aren't completely shocked when you get here."

"Thank you Aunt Debra. Do you need me to bring anything?"

"Just your appetite", she laughed, "don't worry about a thing."

"Okay. I'll see you Sunday." Tony chuckled.

"Okay sweetie, see you soon."

Tony hung up the phone and walked upstairs. He was very nervous about Sunday and he felt that same desperation and anxiousness start to creep up on him again. He walked into the living room and sat down. He found himself breaking into light sweat thinking about seeing all his family again.

Pepper noticed something different in Tony's mood when he had walked into the living room. He was quiet and had a worried look on his face.

"Tony, is there something wrong?"

Tony didn't respond, he still had the same look on his face and was starring off into space.

"Tony?" she called.

He jumped and turned to face her.

"Yes?"

"Is there something wrong?" she repeated.

"No. Not at all."

"Are you sure?"

He sighed, "I'm going to my aunt's house on Sunday. My whole family is going be there, and I just haven't seen them in so long."

"You're nervous, aren't you?"

"Very." He found himself admitting.

"Tony, do want to talk about what had you in such a bad mood for so long?"

He looked over at her, "You noticed?"

"Both Rhodey and I." she answered.

Tony found himself contemplating whether he wanted to tell Pepper. He was embarrassed to say it out loud; he was ashamed of his actions.

He sighed, "When my parents passed, I was really angry and I had changed for the worst. I was an arrogant little jerk who thought I was better that everyone else because of how smart I was. I didn't treat my family very well and one day my uncle had enough of it. He screamed at me trying to make me understand what I was doing was wrong. He was trying to make me react; instead I took it badly and said something's I shouldn't ever have said to them." he sighed again and looked up to the ceiling, "I accused them all of being after my money, I accused them of never genuinely loving me or my parents. I don't know why I said those things. I confused them wanting to help me, with them being after my money, when they weren't. I guess I felt scared, I felt like I always had to be on guard when my parents passed away. I felt unprotected even if I had my aunt it didn't suffice; I was missing the protection of my mom and dad." he paused then continued, "I ran out of the house and told them I would never speak to them again. That this would be the last they ever saw of me, and I kept that promise for decade."

"But, what about your aunt? It seems you were very close to her."

"My aunt knew that I hadn't meant anything towards her, but it had still hurt her. I still remember the look on her face when I was saying all those ugly things; I remember her begging me to stop. But if I was going to break all bonds with them, I would have to never speak to her again as well."

Pepper was appalled by what she had heard. She could see the hurt and regret in Tony's eyes when he told the story. She put her hand on his shoulder, and tried to console him.

"I'm sure once your family sees how much you have changed, they'll forgive you. You're not the same heartless, arrogant guy you were a year ago, that's for sure. When you said those things you were young and wreck less; your parents had just passed away. I'm sure they'll understand. You'll be just fine when you go to the barbeque on Sunday."

"I hope so." He said putting his hand over Peppers.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: **

It was Sunday early morning; Tony sat upon his bed watching TV, anything to get his mind off all his problems. His sat fixated on the screen, his eyes glazed over, you could tell he wasn't paying attention to the dancing figures on the screen, his mind was elsewhere.

"Sir, it's four o'clock in the morning, I suggest you go to bed now if want to go well rested tomorrow." Jarvis asked.

Not looking away from the screen Tony answered, "Yeah, turn everything off." He mumbled.

Tony tossed and turned all morning, not being able to sleep with all the thoughts plaguing his mind. The queasiness in his stomach impeded him from relaxing. Before he knew it, it was 10 a.m., and forced himself out of bed getting ready for the day. There were days where the palladium in his system made him feel more sick and tired than usual. Today was unfortunately one of those days.

"It just had to be today, didn't it." he grumbled walking down the stairs.

Pale and sick he walked into the kitchen for a glass of water, where Pepper sat at the island reading the morning newspaper.

"Good morning." She greeted happily. She knew what today was and was trying to help ease him up a bit.

In response he grunted and sat down across from her drinking his water, apparently she was not helping. Pepper noticed something odd in Tony's appearance, his skin was pale and his eyes were dim.

"Tony, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm just nervous, that's all."

"Are you sure?" Pepper asked suspiciously.

He looked up and smiled, "Of course."

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Pepper knew something was wrong. Some days he would wake up pale with a fever, sometimes even throwing up, but he always blamed it on the stress. She hoped that after he reconciled there would be no more days like those.

Once the clock struck 12, he hopped into his car, ready to drive to his aunt's house. He drove at the legal speed limit, something he usually didn't do, but today he didn't want to get to his aunt's house faster than he should. Once he got to the familiar cream colored house, he stayed inside the car. He could drive away now and they wouldn't notice, or he could go inside and face his family like a man. Tony Stark was a man, an indestructible man, but this case the first thought sounded better to him. He shook his head grabbed his jacket and got out the car. Walking over to the house, he began to think positively. Pepper was right; he had changed a lot and was sorry for what he had done. Once his family saw that, they would forgive him. He suddenly seemed to grow some strength; he walked with a purpose and with a confident air. He rang the doorbell, and waited patiently for someone to open it. To his relief his aunt Debra opened the door.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here." She hugged him and led him inside, "listen, there's nothing to be nervous about, everything will be just fine."

"Did you tell them I was coming?"

"Yes."

"What did they say? How did they take it?" he asked nervously.

"They didn't really say anything; I don't think they knew what to say that moment." She said, "But listen here, everything is going to be fine, everyone has missed you very much." She comforted as they walked into the kitchen.

He looked outside through the glass doors, he could see his family laughing and having good time. He watched all the kids running around, some he recognized some he didn't. He looked over to his aunt as she prepared things to take outside. Tony felt like a child, like a child that was a party and wouldn't leave their parents side, in this case his aunts side.

"Here let me help you." He said taking the bowls out of her hands as they both walked outside.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

They walked over to where all the adults were sitting and placed the food down on the table. Everything went silent and Tony became the center of attention. Tony Stark was a great speaker, he could speak to a crowd of a million and not be scared, but right now he was frightened, he was loss at words.

"I know that I probably shouldn't have come, I know that I'm the last person you all probably want to see right now, but-"

"Tony," his uncle interrupted as he stood up and walked towards him.

This is it, thought Tony, rejection.

"Save your apology," his uncle said.

Tony hung his head; he shouldn't have ever come; now he had ruined a perfectly good day for his family. He felt even worse now than before.

"We forgive you."

"Look I know I was a – wait what?" He said realizing what his uncle had said.

"We forgive you." he heard his aunt Kristine said.

He looked over at her, incredulously.

"But, why? You guys should be mad at me." He looked around at them, "You should give me a harder time for all the stuff I did." said Tony.

Tony probably should have left it at that, grateful that they had forgiven him, but he didn't seem to understand why they would forgive him just like that.

"Tony, Tony, we forgive you, because we love you, and because we know how much you've changed since then. All we wanted was for you to see what you were doing was wrong and for you to change your ways and you have and that's all we care about. We know you are sorry, and we were never mad at you, just worried." Uncle Brian explained.

"Now sit down, let's eat! C'mon!" Aunt Debra said breaking the silence.

Tony had never been more confused and relieved in his life. He hadn't been around a family in such a long time, he wasn't sure what to do around them, let alone know how they worked together. He went around and hugged all his aunts and uncles and they introduced him to all the young children, some he knew some he didn't.

Tony hadn't really liked kids before, especially teenagers, he thought they were annoying and took up valuable time that could be used for other useful things, but now he realized that kids were great. The kids had warmed up to Tony and vice versa, they were crazy and hyper and they couldn't help but bring a smile to his face. Tony was nervous about meeting the older kids, though. He remembered how he was when he was a teenager and remembered how hard it was for his parents to handle him sometimes. Everyone knew how teenagers acted, they were mean and they would judge people without even getting to know them. They were rebellious little creatures he thought.

"Kids come here and say hi to your cousin Tony." His aunt called to the rest of his cousins that came out of the house. Tony pretended he didn't hear a thing and kept on playing with the younger kids.

"Tony, you remember your cousins don't you." Debra asked.

"Of course, I think they're the ones that don't remember me." He answered once they were all in front of him.

"Haha, how could we forget?" His oldest cousin Andy said. Tony couldn't help but think Andy's tone had held some sarcasm.

He greeted everyone else and they all seemed to greet him with the same tone as Andy. He ignored his cousins' approaches and continued to play with the kids; after all he had deserved the cold attitude.

"What in the world is he doing here?" Rosaline asked.

"I'm not surprised he's here, he was here the other day." Evangeline answered.

"He was here? What for?" Diana his Uncle Brian's daughter asked incredulously.

Tony wondered if they knew he could hear them. He wondered if they were doing that to spite him.

"To apologize about what happened." Evangeline answered again.

"So he thinks he can come and apologize and everything is okay all of a sudden?" Jesse, another cousin asked.

"Looks like our parents are happy with him here." Rosaline said.

"That's complete crap!" Jesse exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at him.

"What are you guys dumb or something?" Andy whispered walking up to them, as everyone else went back to doing their own things.

This time Tony struggled to understand what was being said.

"What if he can hear you guys? Just shut up and stop talking." He whispered to them, well at least that's what Tony heard, he could barely hear anything now.

"How can he hear us, he's sitting over there Andy!" Jesse fought back.

"I'm sitting over there," he pointed, "farther away than he is and I can hear you guys! If you guys are going to talk about somebody do it where they can't hear you g-"

"Or we could do it to their face, which would be the correct thing to do, I mean that's what you always say." Diana interjected.

"Whatever, just go inside the house, all of you." He ordered.

Tony felt their gaze on him and tried to look like as if he hadn't heard a thing. He saw them walk inside the house giggling about what had happened. Tony didn't find it humorous at all; in fact it had ruined his entire day. Deciding to leave the party he bid farewell to his family outside with much protest from the children and walked inside the house to leave.

"Bye." He said walking through the living room where the older kids were. Mummers of careless goodbyes were heard throughout the room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

When Tony had gotten home Pepper and Rhodey could tell something was amiss, Tony had excused himself to his garage without even saying hello. Tony hadn't realized how bad his cousins' words had impacted him 'till he had gotten home. But he wouldn't give up he said to himself, he would win them over he thought before falling into a deep slumber.

The next morning Tony's bad mood had been lifted when his aunt called that morning.

"I'm just glad everything went well yesterday." She gushed, not exactly everything he thought to himself. "But I was calling to invite you to dinner tonight. How does that sound?" Debra finally had Tony back and she didn't plan on losing him anytime soon, so she decided to invite to dinner anytime possible.

"Sounds great!" he answered, "What time?" he wouldn't let what happened yesterday get in the way of him seeing his aunt and uncle.

"How about seven?"

"Great, I'll just finish up some work here in the office and I'll be there."

"All right honey, take care I'll see you tonight."

"Bye."

Tony hung up the phone and continued getting everything ready for the hearing in three days. He didn't care what it took, but he would never turn in his suits; they were his and only his.

It was now five and he would be leaving to his aunt's soon. He was looking forward to seeing his aunt and uncle, though not so much his cousins as mean as that sounded. Even if they were just teenagers and surely it didn't matter what they thought, it was still unpleasant being in a room where some people don't want you there.

Pulling up to his aunt's house he got out the car and walked to the home knocking on the door.

"Tony!" his aunt exclaimed, "Come in sweetie."

He hugged his aunt and walked in. Walking through the living room he saw Rosaline, and Evangeline, watching TV.

"Kids, your cousin is here." His aunt informed them.

"Hey." The girls greeted kindly.

Tony was surprised at how they greeted him; their tone was amicable and held no sort of negativity, though he realized that this was because his aunt was standing there.

He walked into the kitchen where his uncle sat on the island.

"Tony, my boy, how are you?" his uncle David greeted while washing the vegetables.

"I'm doing well, Uncle David." He greeted, "Is there anything I can help with?" he asked hopefully, the last thing he wanted was to sit with his cousins.

"I think everything is covered. Why don't you go sit with your cousins while we get everything ready?" his uncle said from the sink. 

"Uh, sure." He didn't want to, but he didn't protest. Walking to the living room Tony had a flash of dizziness. He leaned on the wall for support until the feeling went away. After finally calming himself, he was once again startled.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked.

He snapped his heard toward the voice and saw it belonged to Evangeline. He inwardly cursed; he had hoped no one saw, he didn't want anyone questioning him about his health.

"Yeah, just got a little dizzy, that's all."

His cousin looked at him suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He said confidently.

"Okay." She said and walked past him towards the kitchen.

"Hey," he called, "don't tell your mom, she tends to worry too much."

"Why would she worry, you are okay aren't you?" she gave him a pointed look.

"Yes, but I just wouldn't want her getting all hyped up for nothing." He said impatiently, all he wanted was for her to say yes to his request.

"Okay." She said simply and walked into the kitchen.

Throughout dinner he noticed his cousins glancing at him, he concluded that Evangeline must have told Rosaline what happened. He just hoped they wouldn't tell his aunt.

The next day Tony awoke early for a press conference. After last night's incident he hadn't felt much better, he was starting to feel worse every day. He needed to figure out a substitute for the palladium or it would be the end of Tony Stark and he didn't want that, not now after finally reconciling with his family.

Tony stood behind Rhodey waiting till it was his turn to stand behind the podium. He had not looked his best today, he awoke paler than yesterday and was feeling very weak today, he hoped nobody noticed.

Rosaline sat lazily on the living room couch flipping through the channels. Passing the news station she heard the news woman speaking about Tony. She had been about to change the channel when they showed him standing behind the podium, there was something different about him Rosaline concluded. He wasn't standing with the confident air he usually had, he seemed tired and sick. Thoughts of Tony being ill crossed her mind, and a guilty feeling started to form in her stomach. She shook her head and changed the channel deciding she was thinking too much.

Later that day, Rosaline and Evangeline sat in the kitchen helping their mother prepare dinner when she announced Tony would be coming again. They weren't surprised; in fact they were sure this would become very common. From her left side she heard Evangeline groan, something she probably would have done, but she couldn't help but feel bad for him after she saw him on TV. She decided to see if her mom had noticed anything odd.

"Hey, mom?" she called interrupting her mother's lecture towards Evangeline, "Did you see Tony on T.V. today?"

"On the news? Yes, poor guy looked so worn out. He's been under so much stress lately." She said distractedly.

So she had notice. A knock on the door interrupted Rosaline from speaking any further.

"Rose will you get that please?"

"Sure." Placing the knife down on the table she walked to the door.

Opening it she came to face with Tony, she moved to the side and let him in.

"My mom's in the kitchen." She said and led him there without greeting him; Tony Stark was still not her favorite person.

"Tony!" her mother greeted.

"Hey. Do you guys need any help; I know I'm a little early."

"That would be nice." Their mother said and looked at them, "we'll get everything done sooner."

Rosaline had shared her thoughts with her sister after she had seen Tony on T.V. Evangeline agreed he didn't look very well, but like her mother, she blamed it on the stress.

"Coming into this family all over again is so stressful because we are such judge mental people, well some of us at least." She remembered Evangeline saying, "I would hate to be in his shoes."

What Evangeline voiced was not her actual opinion; she too thought maybe there was something wrong with him. First the dizzy spell and then the conference, didn't seem like a coincidence. She was just trying to convince herself otherwise by saying it was stress. She wouldn't admit out loud that maybe he was ill; it would only make her feel guiltier. But of course that guilt didn't stop them from disliking him. There always was the possibility they were over thinking it too, right?

After washing his hands Tony sat down at the island with the girls helping cut the vegetables. Rosaline couldn't help but stare at Tony as if trying to figure out his diagnostics. She felt a kick from under the table, she looked over and realized Evangeline was the culprit.

"Stop." Evangeline mouthed.

Evangeline had too noticed Tony looked out of sorts, after she had seen him in the hallway he hadn't looked good since. She couldn't help but blurt out her question after her mom left to pick up the phone, "Are you okay?"

Tony looked up, "You're asking me?" he asked confused.

Evangeline nodded as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Fine." He answered simply.

"You look like crap." Rosaline noted.

Tony wasn't sure how to react to his cousins' behaviors; they had obviously noted he wasn't doing well.

"It's just the stress that's all; things have been getting rough at the company." And he ended it with that.

Tony couldn't stop thinking about what happened, if his cousins told his aunt about their suspicions she would never let it go until he told her what was really going on.


End file.
